...inside the random mind of the willed man in wheel chair...bursts of simple ups and downs of the struggling life as breathed out on a typical layman's perspective...

November 10, 2013

Complementary medicine

Complementary
medicine is an increasingly popular form of health care in the Western world.
Millions of consultations take place every year, and according to some surveys,
almost one in three people have tried it. People with chronic conditions, such
as long-term pain, make use of complementary medicine particularly frequently.

Gradually,
acceptance of complementary medicine is increasing in orthodox medical circles
with more and more doctors training in, or referring patients for,
complementary therapies or incorporating complementary practitioners into their
practices. You can find complementary medicine in hospitals, specialist
clinics, hospices, schools, beauty clinics, and gyms.

At
the same time, people are becoming more discerning about the complementary
therapies that they use and asking for proof of effectiveness and safety.
Practitioners are increasingly well trained and many of their professional
associations have been working hard to raise standards.

Aside
its questioned effectiveness and safety, the underlying concern for these
things are their cost. Is it cost-worthy? But it’s definitely up to you and how
fast your body responds to these ways of treating yourself. To have a full
grasp of the same gives you more options on the thing at stake: your health.

To
name a few of these, let us take you to the land of the rising sun, Japan. It
was there where the Japanese massage techniques (including shiatsu and anma)
started.

Anma,
shiatsu, and Western massage are the three most commonly practiced types of
massage in Japanese medicine nowadays. These three massage approaches have all
been licensed as forms of therapy by the Japanese government since 1955.
Although they share some similarities, their underlying theories and practice
and their common usage today are quite different:

Anma
is used to treat general discomfort and to release tension or stress. This
therapy is most commonly practiced amongst blind practitioners in Japan or
amongst shiatsu practitioners in the West.

Shiatsu,
based on meridian theory, is used for both diagnosis and treatment of a wide
range of disorders. It has become a very successful and popular therapy in many
Western countries. Shiatsu is also quite widely used for stress relief.

Western
massage is most widely used in the treatment of muscular and skeletal problems,
often in medical settings.

Anma

Anma
is the oldest of the massage traditions, having reportedly been brought over
from China more than 1,500 years ago. It was once part of the mainstream of
Japanese medicine but fell out of favour as Western massage approaches became
more popular. Anma then became almost exclusively the preserve of blind massage
practitioners. (Massage has long been an accepted occupation amongst blind
people in Japan.) These practitioners kept the therapy alive and it is now once
again popular in Japan and taught to sighted practitioners as well.

Anma
is quite a vigorous form of massage designed more for therapy than for
relaxation or pleasure. It involves gripping techniques where tense muscles are
held and then released to ease muscle tension and promote blood circulation.

Anma
also involves direct stimulation of acupoints along the meridian channels using
mainly the fingers, thumbs, knuckles, and sometimes the elbows. Pressure is
applied quite firmly and deeply, and the treatment is carried out fully clothed
with no oil being used.

The
term shiatsu, literally ‘finger pressure’, is a therapy that Tokujiro Namikoshi
developed in the early 1900, when he was just nine years old, using finger
pressure massage to relieve his mother’s painful rheumatism.

Namikoshi’s
shiatsu involves using the fingers, thumbs, and palms to apply pressure to the
surfaces of the body in order to correct imbalances and promote health. Namikoshi
believed that this type of therapy could stimulate the body’s natural healing
mechanisms.

Various
other forms of shiatsu have been developed by other Japanese masters over the
years. One of the most well known is Zen-shiatsu, developed by the great master
practitioner, Shizuto Masunaga, which also employs the knees and elbows to
apply firmer pressure and uses stretches to balance and realign the body.

Shiatsu
can be performed through clothing or directly onto the skin. As shiatsu is a
form of pressure therapy, oil isn’t used.

Western
massage

Western
massage was introduced to Japan by visiting European doctors in the early
1900s, and is based on Western anatomy and physiology. This massage involves
vigorous kneading, grasping, and rubbing techniques designed to stimulate the
sympathetic nervous system and release muscle tension.

Most
moves are directed from the extremities towards the heart in order to promote
the return of circulating blood to the heart. Western massage is performed directly
onto the skin and oil may be used.